Flixwise Podcast

Film historian, professor James Naremore returns to discuss Charles Laughton’s dark southern classic, The Night of the Hunter (1955). We ask ourselves if it’s love or hate we feel for the film, and unpack how absolutely bonkers it is; a dark fairy tale that climaxes in a showdown between an evil bible-thumping Robert Mitchum and a shotgun wielding Lillian Gish. A commercial and critical failure upon its initial release, we ask ourselves if its worth of the 63rd position on The Sight & Sound List. Taking inspiration from Night of the Hunter being Laughton’s first (and only) directorial venture, we spend our second topic discussing some other great directorial debuts. 

And as you’d expect, we close things out with some Final Notes of Positivity.

On today's show, we have a messy love triangle to sort through. No, I'm not referring to any sordid entanglements with our trio of panelists - host Lady P, co-producer Martin Kessler, and Battleship Pretension's Scott Nye - but rather the messy bed hopping and relationship dramas of the central trio in Jean Eustache's The Mother and the Whore (1973). Despite it being a notoriously difficult movie to see, The Mother and the Whore has drummed up enough critical support to land the 59th slot on the "Sight and Sound Greatest Films of all Time" list. The film stars Jean-Pierre Léaud as a hapless thirty-something layabout, who's somehow managed to get not one, but two women, to fall for him.  This is the original Quarterlife crisis movie, sort of in the vein of the HBO series Girls, where the characters are both endearing and completely insufferable. 

  Much like the characters in the film, our panelists also enjoy long-form discussions about pretentious pop cultural objects, particularly if said objects are out-of-print cinematic endurance tests. Our panelists are also in the same relative age range, and have recently experienced a political and existential crisis not unlike the failure of the 1968 Revolution in France from which the trio in the film are still reeling. The panelist discuss those and other ways in which their lives parallel those of Eustache's creations, and also the very significant ways in which the characters lives diverge - namely that our panelists have jobs and don't do nearly much day drinking.    Note - we recognize that this film is all but unavailable here in The States, and so we've tried to be mindful of spoilers, though *spoiler* their isn't really much plot to divulge. It's mostly just talking.

Dave Eves joins Martin Kessler for a wildfire fast conversation about filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov. They brave the elements to marvel at I Am Cuba’s famous long takes, consider the logistics of Letter Never Sent’s forest fire, and look at how The Cranes Are Flying set the bar for self-serious Russian directors. If you survive to the end you’ll hear some strong opinions on arthouse theatre audiences, Hard to Be a God, Blumhouse horror movies, the accents of token straw-man Americans, and of course why “cinema is a lie”. 

If you have any letters to send, you can reach Dave Eves on Twitter at @CinemaVsDave

Buckle up, things are about to get slow. Lady P welcome Monique “Momo” Morgan in her Flixwise debut, and Flixwise co-producer Martin Kessler, to talk about the second Kenji Mizoguchi entry on the Sight and Sound list, Sansho The Bailiff. They navigate its murky waters in discussing its themes, symbols, and moral quandaries, the role of women in the film, and Mizoguchi’s filmmaking technique. 

For our second topic we take a long look at long takes. Our panelists discuss different types of long takes and their varying effects. Plus, they figure out exactly how long a take needs to be to achieve ‘long take’ status, and then try to list their top five favourites (Birdman doesn’t make an appearance, we promise). 

It's our final installment in this coverage of the TCM Classic Film Fest. For this last minisode, Lady P and Kristen Sales are talking Cock... Cock of the Air (1932), that is. Produced by Howard Hughes, Cock of the Air is a bawdy Pre-Code comedy/adventure flick that serves primarily as a showcase for actress Billie Dove and her ample (ahem) talents. And in keeping with the sexual objectification theme, the gals take a good gander at the David Farrar shapely gams, which really popped in the new Academy nitrate print of Black Narcissus (1947). Then the gals take a trip to Florida, and chat about the wonderful Preston Sturges screwball comedy, The Palm Beach Story (1942) and debate which of Sturges films is the sexiest. Finally, they offer some closing thoughts on this year's "Make em Laugh" theme.

 

 

It's the 2nd in our series of minisodes from the 2017 TCM Classic Film Fest. Lady P and Kristen Sales are back, bringing you highlights and random musing from days 2 and 3 of the Fest. Talking points include the greatness of Madeline Kahn, watching really depressing movies at a comedy oriented Fest, and Sean Connery in a mankini.  

Check back Monday for the final episode in our #TCMFF series.

As promised, Lady P and Kristen Sales are back with updates from the 2017 TCM Classic Film Festival. For their first episode they discuss some of their favorite moments from the Fest thus far. Highlights include a variety of Pre-Code delights, the various TCM fan gatherings around town, and the surprise appearance from the ultimate classic film superfan, Mr. Martin Scorsese.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weekend!

On today's show, it's our annual TCM Film Fest preview! The Fest begins this Thursday, April 6th, and continues through Sunday, April 9th. Helping listeners navigate the ins and outs of this year's program, is a very special guest - TCM Saturday Daytime Host, Tiffany Vazquez. Tiffany joins host, Lady P, and Flixwise regular, Kristen Sales, to offer up suggestions on what to see from this year's roster of great films. They talk about what attendees can expect as they run back and forth between the great movie palaces of Hollywood Boulevard, and also discuss this year's theme, "Make Em Laugh", and why our collective classic film loving heart needs a slate of comedy offerings right about now.

And lest we forget, there's also a Sight and Sound movie to cover. This time it's the 59th film on the Critics' Poll, Buster Keaton's 1924 feature, Sherlock Jr. Brace yourself for some serious giddiness, because Lady P and Kristen lavish more effusive praise on this movie than just about any film they ever discussed on this podcast - and if you've listened to the Jeanne Dielman episode, you know they go hard for movies they really like. They delve into Buster's precision both as a performer and as a director, his persona and how it compares to his contemporaries, and why cinephiles in particular are so fond of Sherlock Jr. Plus, the gals spend a good amount of time talking about Buster's most important asset: his beautiful face.

But wait, there's more! Make sure to check your feeds for more updates from TCMFF.  Kristen and Lady P will be releasing special minisodes throughout the weekend with recaps and highlights direct from the Fest.

Martin and returning guest Marcus Pinn delve into the minutiae of juxtaposing film stills. They  cover coincidence and influence, and what makes a good side by side and a bad side. Along the way they touch on how to watch a Claire Denis film, visual cliches, Twitter etiquette, and hands-on cinephilia,  Which filmmaker says they’ve never seen Star Wars but totally knows what an Ewok is, and which filmmaker only copies class? All questions will be answered! 

Check our Marcus Pinn’s writing over at http://www.pinnlandempire.com and listen to his new podcast, Zebras in America here: https://soundcloud.com/zebras-in-america 

On today's show, three of the internet's finest twits (Lady P, Martin Kessler, and Kristen Sales) attempt to find purpose and salvation through a meandering, nonsensical quest - to figure out whether Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) is worthy of the Flixwise Favorite's list. Together they parse through a submission from listener, Jessica Gilbert, who outlines why she thinks the Pythons' second feature is one of the greatest films ever made. She touches on all the usual topics: filmic technique, cultural impact, shrubbery taxonomies, etc.

Using Jessica's submission as a guide, our fearless trio of panelists attempt to discern all the silly accents (and walks!) and figure out if Holy Grail is indeed worthy of our show's highest acclaim.